Crisis What Crisis?

In this episode I’m joined by the world-renowned performance psychologist, Dr Nate Zinsser. Dr Zinsser (or Dr Z as he’s known) - is the Director of the Performance Psychology Programme at West Point, the US Army’s famous officer training facility. In that role he prepares new and experienced soldiers for the mental stresses of battle. He also works for the FBI and is a top US sports psychologist, helping to guide a number of NFL and Olympic athletes to glory. Dr Z’s new book, The Confident Mind – a Battle Tested Guide for Unshakable Performance - is packed with useful, practical tips on how to discover and maintain your confidence. Dr Z’s approach is far from the world of positive thinking fluff, that publishers seem to love these days. His formula is brutally frank, down to earth, and doable. In this chat Dr Z talks us through his confidence framework. And along the way he explains how the recently jailed Boris Becker can turn his downfall into a positive. He also delivers a compelling message to the men and women fighting the war in Ukraine. There really are some gems to remember here. Like - “There’s a big difference between positive thinking and effective thinking” and “Crisis is an opportunity to get to a better life, not to just get back the life you had” and my personal favourite “Bitterness is not a clean burning fuel … it will always leave a residue.” Some great stuff here. My thanks to Dr Z and I hope you find it as useful as I did!Dr Z's crisis cures: 1 – Start by not categorising your situation as a crisis in the first place! I try to be as rational and as careful about how I think about the problem. My response is always to stop. Breathe. Hold back the emotion – be as objective as possible. Ramp down the alarm bells and see this as a situation that’s going to require a considerable input of a particular type of energy. I don’t want to be telling myself that I’m in a crisis.2 – Define the situation appropriately – are you in a situation that means the world is going to end or one that you just wouldn’t choose to be in? Remember you have agency and capability.3 – Decide to act. Remember, you are the leader, and you make the decisions when it counts.LINKS:Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nathaniel.ZinsserLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-zinsser-35349010/Twitter: (@DocZinsser)Website: www.NateZinsser.comBook: https://amzn.to/3BjrPv3Host - Andy Coulson Producer - Louise Difford Full transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/dr-nate-zinsser-on-how-to-develop-the-confidence-to-survive-crisis/

My guest today is the former Foreign Secretary William Hague. As someone who has been ‘in the room’ as the decision maker at so many moments of political drama, Lord Hague has an incredibly valuable voice to add to this conversation that we’re having about crisis. From his challenging time as Conservative Party leader, the wilderness years out of frontline politics, the four he spent as Foreign Secretary - and now as businessman and commentator - William has a unique perspective on what makes a crisis and how those in public life should approach managing them. Threaded throughout our discussion on Ukraine, Brexit, political resignations and why being Prime Minister is not the route to happiness, William gives us the Hague formula for crisis management. It is, perhaps as you might expect, pretty no-nonsense. Interestingly, William thinks his keep calm, keep perspective approach is out of kilter with the modern world of instant decision making and instant judgements. I suspect, after listening to him you’ll think, like me, that it’s exactly what the bonkers world of politics needs right now. William and I worked quite closely together more than a decade ago and this conversation also reminded me just how reasonable a bloke he is.  God knows we could do with a bit of that. I hope you enjoy this conversation and thanks so much for listening.William's Crisis Cures: 1 – Nature – The Japanese like forest bathing – it’s not a bad idea.. when in trouble go and walk amongst the trees, the plants and wild animals – it gives you a different perspective.  Certainly a calmer one.2 – History – Often you can see things in better perspective if you can remember how terrible things were before for the previous generation.  Don’t feel so sorry for yourself when you consider those aged 20 in the 1940’s going off to war.3 – Exercise – When I was in the Foreign office I used to say ‘I can do without sleep or food, but I can’t do without my exercise.’  I have to have a run or a swim in the morning. When I’m in big trouble I need even more of that because I think it gives you an energy and a self-confidence and again, a sense of perspective and some time to think.Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukYour Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682Host– Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull episode transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/william-hague-on-managing-global-crisis-the-art-of-resigning-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness/

My guest today, I am thrilled to say, is one of Britain’s best broadcasters – the brilliant Andrew Marr. Perhaps best known for his Sunday morning politics show, which he recently left after more than 20 years, Andrew is a true polymath – a man who can not only present but who writes prolifically, is a talented painter and who has forgotten more than most of us have learnt about Britain’s history.Andrew is also a survivor – in 2013 he suffered a catastrophic stroke that his wife and children were told would claim his life. He defied his doctors, of course, although has been left with permanent paralysis on his left side. Then four years ago Andrew was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He batted that challenge away with determination and self-deprecation. This is not a man to wallow in his own troubles, I can tell you. But he has analysed and made sense of those crises and talks to me in this podcast about them in a way that is both fascinating and I think valuable. He says, “After the stroke, my life became a long list of can’ts... Can’t run, can’t cycle, can’t swim, can’t ski. I decided instead to concentrate on the cans. And I now try to squeeze the juice out of every day.” Brilliant.This is a compelling episode with a truly compelling guest. My thanks to him and I hope you enjoy it.Andrew’s Crisis Cures:1 – A good malt whisky calms me down. Half and half with water, looking into the middle distance. Brings the blood pressure down and pulls everything into perspective.2 – Music – I listen to a lot of classical and piano music, more and more as I get older. I like to walk around Regents Park with headphones on almost certainly listening to either Beethoven or my new discovery – Haydn’s piano sonatas, which are heart-stoppingly beautiful3 –The sky – Get outside in all weathers and be surrounded by nature. Full transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/andrew-marr-on-his-stroke-survival-and-squeezing-the-juice-out-of-every-day/Links:Tonight with Andrew Marr: https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/42KuSx/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/marrshow?lang=enElizabethans – https://amzn.to/3Ud6AUmStream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukYour Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/andrew-marr-on-his-stroke-survival-and-squeezing-the-juice-out-of-every-day/

To kick off this new series I’m joined by Ginny Buckingham – the quietly spoken, devoted mum-of-two who for a period of her life faced the frankly unfathomable trauma of being publicly blamed for thousands of deaths.Ginny was the boss of Boston’s Logan Airport where, on the morning of September 11th 2001, a group of terrorists boarded American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, airliners that of course very soon after take-off, they would hijack and later fly into New York’s World Trade Centre.Ginny led a daunting, frankly unprecedented crisis management operation at Logan but within 48hours of the attacks, the blame game began.It was wrongly claimed that the terrorists had targeted Logan because of its weak security systems and links to Boston politics.There were angry demands for Ginny to resign and, as one newspaper put it – ‘atone’ for the massacre. Her political bosses – as so often happens in crisis – saw the opportunity for a scapegoat. Blame, as Ginny puts it, gave them the opportunity to get control of an uncontrollable situation.Six weeks after the attacks, she was forced to resign but faced years of continued accusations and a personal legal claim from the wife of a 9/11 victim. As the second anniversary of the atrocity approached, Ginny sat alone in her car and considered suicide.This is a conversation about blame, the psychological impact of public scandal, guilt and recovery. Of how when crisis, politics and media collide, those in the crosshairs can find themselves in the most brutal of positions.In her book On My Watch (and indeed during this pod), Ginny stresses time and again that her difficulties are nothing as compared to those who lost their lives on 9/11 and the families they left behind.But hers is a story of how public crisis can so often create powerful tides of misplaced retribution and blame that wreak havoc on those unfortunate enough to be in the way. That even after she was very publicly exonerated by the 9/11 commission, the psychological damage, continued, demonstrating I think, that crisis can have a very long, unseen but very damaging tail.Ginny hopes that by telling her story, our leaders might think twice before reaching for the scapegoat button when trouble comes – and I hope she’s right. Huge thanks to her for joining us and I hope you find this podcast useful.Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise Difford‘On My Watch’ – Memoir by Virginia Buckingham – https://amzn.to/3RJ8pGOFull transcript and links available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/virginia-buckingham-on-9-11-the-unbearable-burden-of-blame-and-moving-forward/ Ginny's Crisis Cures:1 – Make a room in your home a haven for you during crisis and while you’re healing. I have a sitting room in the corner of my house that has my candles and my artwork and my books – that’s where I curl up in the corner, take a breath and say, “Okay. Go at this again tomorrow.”2 – Find a purpose outside of yourself and your current situation to devote yourself to. In my case I was very lucky that I had two little children to take care of and devote myself to outside of what was happening. But whether it’s parenting or taking care of your dog or your neighbour – it gives purpose and meaning to your day to day.3 – Do good with something bad. In my case, I took my story and I put it in a book and I put it out in the world. So don’t just let the bad things sit. Take advantage of the crisis and do good with it.Ginny's Crisis Track: Bruce Springsteen ‘The Rising’

My guest for this special episode – talking to me from the world’s crisis capital Kyiv – is BBC broadcaster Jeremy Bowen.Jeremy’s dramatic dispatches, with his trademark focus on the moving, at times frankly horrific, human stories of loss and despair, have revealed the appalling impact of Russia’s invasion.This is a truly frontline crisis conversation with a man who felt compelled to put himself in danger once more to tell what he describes as the most important story of his 38year career in news.A love for, and perhaps even an addiction to, the story is what led him to join the BBC team in Ukraine. As Jeremy played down the risks of his assignment, our pod was interrupted by a tannoy message from the hotel suggesting to guests that they should use the bomb shelter below to stay safe through the night. Jeremy, of course, was having none of it.In this conversation he gives us his brilliant analysis of how we got here and where this war might take us. But Jeremy also is able to give us a powerful, first-person account of how the people of Ukraine have dealt with an existential crisis for them, their families and for their country. “They are surviving because they are stoic,” says Jeremy.So, this is a unique episode packed with real-time crisis insight. I hope you enjoy it and we’ll be back with a new series of Crisis What Crisis? soon.Jeremy and I would ask that that if you find this episode useful please donate to: https://donation.dec.org.uk/ukraine-humanitarian-appealHost – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/ukraine-special-episode-jeremy-bowen-speaks-to-andy-coulson-from-kyiv/

Nick Robinson is a man who for more than 25 years has had a seat in the front row of so many political crises.  First as a news producer and then in front of the camera as political editor for ITN and the BBC Nick really has witnessed it all when it comes to Westminster drama.Since 2015 Nick has also, of course, fronted Radio 4’s Today Programme, a role in which his piercing interview style has made him respected and feared by our politicians in equal measure.But Nick is also someone who has faced down a personal crisis of the most dramatic and tragic nature. Aged just 18 whilst on holiday in France, he was involved in a head on car crash which instantly claimed the lives of his two friends James Nelson and Will Redhead. Nick was left  trapped in the back seat as the car exploded into flames.  How he escaped is still a mystery to him.  How he came to terms with such an appalling trauma is one of the issues we discuss in depth here.Another is the desperate moment in February 2015 when Nick was told by his doctor that he had lung cancer. He underwent emergency surgery and chemotherapy. Thankfully the tumour was removed but in the process the nerves leading to Nick’s vocal chords were damaged. He feared that he’d lost his voice forever – and with it the career he had worked so hard to build.So, although this is a fascinating and revealing podcast about what Nick has seen and learnt about political crisis, it’s more usefully, I think,  a conversation about his approach to those challenges much closer to home. The Nick Robinson Crisis Formula is stoic and no-nonsense. But it’s also respectful to the ever-present danger …  that long tail of crisis that can suddenly whip around and hit you when you least expect it. Something Nick has experienced himself very recently.My thanks to Nick for such a valuable conversation – and for giving us such a great end to Series 5.Nick's Crisis Cures: 1. A hot bath - gets you relaxed, opens your mind to recovery.2. Fresh Air - it’s a cliché but a walk round the park. Put the phone away, breathe and everything seems clearer.3. Communication – if your crisis is caused by others, try to work out what’s going on in their head. See it from their perspective.Links:Election Notebook – https://amzn.to/3xlLOaYLive From Downing Street – https://amzn.to/3BflrET Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/nick-robinson-on-political-crisis-cancer-and-the-long-tail-of-grief/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.ukFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/nick-robinson-on-political-crisis-cancer-and-the-long-tail-of-grief/

For our first outdoor episode media business leader and one of a kind motivational speaker Ellis Watson joins me for a walk in the Scottish Highlands.Ellis has worked at the sharp end of corporate crisis – heading a national newspaper business, turning around The Greyhound bus operation in the US and as Global CEO of Simon Cowell’s Syco Corporation, before taking charge of UK media group DC Thomson.But behind his professional success is a personal story of resilience and hope. Ellis was given up for adoption as a baby and his teenage search for his birth parents ended with a truly astonishing revelation.This is a story told with humour and passion but without a scintilla of self-pity. He speaks with incredible candour about the extreme ups and downs of a career spent in the company of billionaires, one of whom was Rupert Murdoch – the boss he walked out on in a scene worthy of Succession. Ellis also reflects on the mountain top drama that almost cost him his life.Known as one of the most inspiring and entertaining keynote speakers in the country, Ellis is one of the few people to have been invited back to deliver a second TEDx talk. In this conversation he provides brilliant insights for anyone interested in how crisis can fuel and drive growth and deliver life-changing perspective.Ellis’ Crisis Cures:1. Exercise – I hate the thought of doing it but afterwards it gives a sense of calm and perspective. In crisis it makes you feel like you’ve achieved something, no matter how modest. It makes you feel like you can take control and overcome adversity and difficulty.2. Sleep – Crisis causes you to have interrupted or poor sleep and of course when you have poor sleep you’re much, much worse at handling crisis. As vicious circles go, it’s about as destructive a thing as you can get.3. Dogs – I get excellent counsel and feedback from a chat with my dogs. Mine think I’m pretty clever and agree with me – especially just before they’re about to get fed.Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/ellis-watson-on-the-search-for-his-mum-success-from-crisis-and-how-to-spot-a-bad-billionaire/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

In this week’s Shortcut episode, we are joined by award-winning author and junior doctor, Roopa Farooki. In February 2020, Roopa - who is the daughter of the celebrated Pakistani novelist, Nasim Ahmed Farooki - lost her sister Kiron to breast cancer.  Then weeks later she found herself struggling to cope in an overstretched and under-resourced ITU department, caring for the critically ill Covid-19 patients who were arriving daily at an alarming rate.Her powerful memoir Everything is True, acclaimed by the Guardian as a 2022 must read, is a story of bravery at a time of personal grief and professional crisis - written in snatched moments between 13-hour shifts.   It’s both moving and at times shocking with its brutally honest account of life on the NHS frontline.Roopa is not a woman to hold back about the challenges she and her colleagues faced, not least for her and others in the higher risk BAME demographic, but also of the betrayal she and others have felt following the No10 party revelations.As she says: “It still makes me angry, that while we were giving up an ITU bed for our Prime Minister they were not even personally following the rules that they put in place for the population, rules which were robbing relatives of their last moments with their families.”This is an immensely revealing and timely Crisis Shortcut episode providing a powerful perspective on the Covid crisis.Roopa's Crisis Cures: 1 - Routine. I think stick to what creates comfort in your routine. I always do half an hour of exercise and that includes a bit of yoga and I always feel better for doing it.2 – Writing.  I write a bit every day to try make some sense of what’s happening in my life. As opposed to reading or doom-scrolling through what everyone else has thought, I think sometimes collect your own thoughts and to put them down. I think that’s really, really helpful for me.3 - Believe in what you’re passionate about. For me I’ve always been passionate about looking after my patients and providing care. There is nothing else that I would rather do than do what I do every day.Links: Everything is True: A junior doctor’s story of life, death and grief in a time of pandemic – https://amzn.to/3U6KfrpHost – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/shortcuts-roopa-farooki-on-grief-betrayal-and-boris/Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

In this episode we have something different as I’m joined by the brilliant psychiatrist Prof. Steve Peters, author of the best-selling The Chimp Paradox.Steve’s landmark book has become a bible for anyone looking to cope with crisis or break down the barriers that can prevent us from living a fuller, happier life. During an illustrious career Steve has worked with people facing life threatening challenges to athletes looking to improve performance - most famously the British cycling team.The Chimp Paradox, which gave Steve rock star status as a psychiatrist, sets out a mind management system based on the premise that there are three forces at play in our brains.  The emotional and primal ‘inner chimp’ - who thinks and acts for us without our permission, the ‘inner human’ who is the real person – rational and humane - and our memory bank, the ‘computer’.   For me it’s been a powerful and entirely logical toolkit for handling stress and those moments of difficulty in my life.  In our chat Steve talks about how the chimp system applies itself to crisis and how it can help anyone, to navigate their way through a world increasingly influenced by those black and white judgements of social media.  His new book – ‘A Path Through the Jungle’ (link below) sits neatly alongside The Chimp Paradox as a ‘Hayne’s Manual’ for the brain.This episode is a fascinating analysis of what crisis actually is and how our minds work when we’re in the midst of significant trouble. Full of gems I guarantee you’ll want to make a note of.Steve's Crisis Cures: 1 – My values – I get myself on my own and ask myself, ‘Have I done the right thing? Have you got integrity, honesty?  Are you working with compassion? If I know that to be true, I can’t stop the world thinking what it thinks.  Therefore, whatever the crisis is, that stops me being thrown around. 2 – Acceptance – I find this as soon as I can so I can work forward in the situation, rather than fighting the injustice or crisis.3 – Perspective.  At the end of the day, we have very short lives.  Now I’m older, perspective is really important to maintaining the status quo in my mind.Links: https://chimpmanagement.com/https://profstevepeters.com/A Path Through the Jungle – https://amzn.to/3eRPhYoThe Chimp Paradox – Book - https://amzn.to/3DsJWBdHost – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/prof-steve-peters-on-how-to-train-your-brain-for-crisis/ Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk

Peter Owen Jones is the former ad man who gave it all up to become a parish priest. By the late 1980s, the former farm boy had carved out a successful career working as a creative director for a top London agency.  But shortly before his 30th birthday, Peter walked away from his lucrative career to embrace a simpler, more meaningful life.Known to many as the ‘vicar in the hat’, and seen often on TV, Peter is an unconventional priest – whose views and approach are often at odds with classic Church of England doctrine. Given up for adoption at six weeks old, he says this void left him feeling as though he had a space inside himself, full of unanswered questions. So, when he himself became a father, he set out to find his birth mother. Six months later they met for the first time on a train platform in Scotland.During our conversation Peter discusses the power of embracing vulnerability and putting it to work. As we all reach the end of another difficult year, there are some useful lessons here which can be put to good use, regardless of your faith.  A perfect Crisis Shortcut for Christmas.Peter's Crisis Cures:1 – Lie down.  When you are feeling overwhelmed, when you’re feeling deeply distraught and the full force of crisis hits – lie down.2 – Pray.  To open yourself to feel the full force of the pain you are experiencing and invite healing into that place.3 – Walk.  St Francis of Assisi said “Solvitur ambulando – it can be solved by walking.”Host – Andy CoulsonProducer – Louise DiffordFull transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/36-shortcuts-peter-owen-jones-on-adoption-authenticity-and-unanswered-questions/ Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk